Music at Wakefield Cathedral

The Cathedral Choir tour of Holland
10th –15th April 2007

Jonathan Bielby, Director

Thomas Moore, Organ
The Boys and Lay-Clerks of Wakefield Cathedral

            It’s not often that Cathedral Choristers are glad to be in bed at seven o’clock in the evening, but it had been a very long day. For many of the Choristers and Lay-Clerks, Tuesday 10th April had started at 3am, before making their way to Leeds-Bradford Airport for 5.15. We took off at seven and touched down an hour later in a gloriously sunny Amsterdam – a trend that was to last all week.

            “Very flat, Norfolk” Noël Coward used to joke; however, that benighted Eastern shire is positively mountainous compared to Holland. The true oddity of the place was brought home to us when we discovered that a famous sea battle once raged where Schiphol Airport now stands, on land reclaimed from the sea.

            Our first stop was the Aeolus Science Museum in Sexbierum. However, the scientific curiosities inside proved less diverting than the go-karts, trampolines and aerial pedal-railway in the grounds outside. After coffee, chips and several happy hours for the boys in the indoor ‘jungle gym’, we set off on the short bus journey to the Stolphuis in Arum, which was to be our base for the week. We were greeted by Mr Revans and Mr Beal, who had left the UK the day before and travelled by road and ferry. Sadly, Mr Revans had to leave almost immediately due to his work and, as it turned out, would not be rejoining us. Essentially, the guesthouse was a converted barn with several rooms around a large central space. A splendid evening meal followed, and the boys collapsed into bed. The timetable specified that the adults would then “relax and plan”. This entailed reconnoitring the village and sampling the local hospitality.

            Wednesday was our first full day in Holland, and the plan was a happy mix of freedom and singing. During morning rehearsal, Mr Bielby did his best to get musical noises out of a horrid electric piano while we tried to get musical noises out of our horribly un-awake throats. We then took the coach to Leeuwarden, where the sensible adults looked round the town and the boys and other (less sensible) adults played Laser quest. We were necessarily re-christened for the fun, and were given names like Godzilla, Rambo and, oddly, 007. Undisputed champion was Mr Morgan, being the highest scorer in the winning team. Our first official engagement then beckoned, so we embarked for the picturesque town of Dokkum, about an hour’s drive away.

            “It won’t fit!” greeted us on our arrival. Mr Moore had gone on ahead in the car, and had met something quite unexpected. The solo organ pieces he had planned to play during the evening’s recital wouldn’t fit on the instrument – the manuals and pedal board were too short. Some of the accompaniments had to ‘doctored’ as well. A hasty reorganisation ensued before we could start singing.

The concert was a great success. It’s hard to judge how you’re doing when you’re performing in Holland: the custom is to applaud only at the end of the performance. However, we need not have worried. We processed out to a spontaneous standing ovation, Mr Benn even getting clapped on the shoulder with “The Reproaches were wonderful”, a reference to John Sanders’ masterly setting, which we had included in the programme.

The boys, for many of whom this was their first tour abroad, were clearly delighted, and it was a lively, if tired, bunch of choristers that returned to Arum that night.

Thursday, for many, promised to be the highlight of the week, as we were giving a concert in the Grote Kerk (Great Church) in Zwolle. This church is renowned for its acoustics, but is internationally celebrated for its organ, a glorious 4-manual Schnitger occupying the whole of the back wall. The morning, however, consisted of the usual (slightly bleary-eyed) rehearsal and some welcome free time. Sport had been arranged, and the present writer ambled to the local games pitch in time to see the end of a keenly-fought football match which ended in a very sporting draw. Mr Moore’s parents, Barry and Linda, both veterans of choir tours, had kindly agreed to come on tour to act as chaperones, and it was Mr Moore Snr’s version of ‘quick cricket’ that completed the fun. Mr Benn and Mr Robinson gamely joined in, but the stars of the show were recently-retired Head Chorister Alex Brown (who is making quite a name for himself as a budding Decani Alto) and Felix Brown-Doblhoff, who has evidently been keeping his talent with the bat a closely-guarded secret.

Our arrival in Zwolle was somewhat farcical, as the driver evidently tried every route he knew to get close to the church, none of which worked. In the end, we walked into the centre of town and assembled in the nave of the Grote Kerk, to a man – and boy – dazzled by the sight and sound of the mighty organ. As soon as we started singing, however, it was clear that something was very wrong. We couldn’t pitch notes and all the music felt very strange. The problem was quickly discovered: the venerable organ was tuned to an old pitch, exactly a tone sharp (to compensate for being below ‘C-level’, perhaps?). This meant that the many top Gs in the Mozart Mass setting – normally a breeze for the boys – were in fact top As. To their credit, they rose to the challenge magnificently. At this point, about halfway through the rehearsal, Mr Morgan disappeared. He’d been having a problem with his teeth since we left Wakefield, and over the course of the day, the left side of his face had swollen worryingly. He reappeared at tea to relate his epic journey to no fewer than three hospitals, which resulted in a packet of antibiotics and a hefty medical bill. Luckily, he recovered enough to sing his solos in the concert splendidly. Sadly, this was the smallest audience of the tour, but that hardly mattered. The experience of singing in such a diaphanous acoustic and being accompanied by such a magnificent organ were reward enough.

Friday was a free day in Amsterdam, but one member of our party was not present. It seems that the exertions of football, cricket and manhandling a mighty Baroque organ had taken their toll on Mr Moore, and he was the second recipient of medical attention that week. The rest of us, however, had a great time in Amsterdam, starting with a canal boat tour before heading our separate ways in groups to explore the city. While the boys soaked up culture at the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank’s house, the Lay-Clerks enjoyed some drinks in the delightful park then headed into the city itself. With no shortage of things to explore, see and do, it was something of a small organisational miracle that we all met on Dam Square at 5.30. We headed off for dinner before meeting up with the boys outside the Anne Frank museum and going back to the coach for Arum. Sadly, Mr Moore was not up to joining us as we reminisced about the day, including several stories involving diversions through some of the less savoury quarters of the city centre….

Saturday was probably our busiest day of the week, with much to-ing and fro-ing. We set out for the coastal town of Harlingen, which was all of a ten-minute drive for a rehearsal in the Grote Kerk. There was a considerable amount of free time built into the day, so it was decided that the boys should go to the beach, while the adults looked round the town where a sailing festival and craft fair were taking place. For some of the Lay-Clerks, though, the lure of sea and sand proved too much, and a base camp was established at a lovely little bar raised on decking overlooking the beach. After a couple of hours of digging, building, paddling and burying Felix and Faheem, we returned to the Stolphuis to shower and change for the evening. We were met by Mr Moore, looking a good deal healthier, sitting outside in the shade.

Harlingen Grote Kerk was the only church we sang in that is a proper Protestant ‘preaching box’. The inside is tall and square, with two galleries running round three sides. As Mr Moore wasn’t fully restored to health, we were lucky that Stephen Power, one of our illustrious former organ scholars, was helping out singing Alto. He and Mr Moore coxed-and-boxed on the organ, Mr Moore accompanying Zadok the Priest and playing the solo organ items while Stephen played for everything else. After the concert, the boys returned to the Stolphuis, but the Lay-Clerks walked – in robes – to the Catholic church to sing Compline. The service was said in English and Mr Moore had recovered sufficiently to play (indeed, after playing all the Baroque organs for which Holland is famed, he took great delight in indulging in this organ’s Romantic tones!), but the real surprise was the turnout. Considering the lateness of the hour, quite a staggering number of people came to hear the evening Office.

Sunday was to be our last day, and in spite of just about everyone being up before the appointed time, we were slightly late in leaving. We journeyed to Meppel, the venue of our final concert. Lunch was provided in an Italian restaurant where we were joined by our tour guides and a remarkable number of devoted parents who had come to support us. After our last two performances, it was quite odd singing in a very dry acoustic, but the large audience was very appreciative and they ended the tour in style with yet another standing ovation.

We bade farewell to our hosts as we departed for Schiphol Airport, where the opportunity was taken to do some last minute shopping before we boarded the plane for home, landing fifteen minutes – or so it seemed – after we took off.

It takes a great deal of inconspicuous work to ensure that a choir tour goes without a hitch, so our thanks to Linda and Barry Moore for looking after the boys, to Stephen for stepping in to play unfamiliar pieces on unfamiliar organs at such short notice, to Mr Moore for his dazzling solo playing and inspired accompanying and to Mr Bielby for all the organisation, rehearsing and directing.

It was a week full of excitement, fun, great churches and great music, but it’s good to be home again.

Nicholas Whitaker
Bass Lay-Clerk.